


Photographs

by Omegarose



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Brain Cancer, F/M, SO, When did I write this?, Wow, i high key forgot that happened, i literally haven't even re read through this since four years ago, i wrote this years ago please be nice, i've edited it since but jesus, just so yall know, middle school?, no beta we die like men, oh yeah, percabeth daughter, recreating wedding photos, that's the original character, the percabeth daughter is a lesbian, until i was making these tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 14:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omegarose/pseuds/Omegarose
Summary: A trip through memory lane.





	Photographs

Percy wandered through the empty house, reliving memories. 

That dent in the wall where he and Jason had tried to carry a much too big table through the much too narrow hallway, despite Annabeth’s protests that it wouldn’t fit. That bay window that Annabeth had loved curling up next to and reading in the afternoon, when soft sunlight filtered in and made her hair glow like gold. That spiderweb cracks in the kitchen tile from when Leo had scared Frank so bad one Christmas he had dropped a heavy pan and turned into a squirrel. That shadow on the countertop from the coffee machine that always seemed to be leaking, no matter how many times Leo took it apart and rebuilt it. That brighter blue rectangle on the wall where the photo of Annabeth and Percy at the altar used to be fixed.

The dining room that Percy and Annabeth had spent their first night in, camping out beneath drop cloths because the house hadn’t been fully finished but their lease on their condo for the year ran out. The kitchen that Annabeth had redesigned hundreds of times before finally deciding to let Calypso and Rachel take over. The porch where Percy had proposed on a warm summer night. The office Annabeth had so often fell asleep in after hours of revising blueprints. The bathroom where Annabeth had run out crying and laughing because the test was positive. The spare bedroom that they had spent months turning into a nursery. 

The living room he had held her in while she broke down--rocked her as she collapsed completely into his embrace, arms trapped between their chests, limp and boneless--after she was diagnosed with an advanced form of brain cancer and given less than a year to live.

_ “It’ll be okay, Seaweed Brain.”  _ Percy heard, echoing through their bedroom, from one of Annabeth’s last nights at home before moving to the hospital for good.  _ “You have to promise to live a full life with Zoey for me. I’ll be waiting and if I hear any different I am going to be ticked.” _

She had been so frail in the last months, pale and skeletal and so frustratingly breakable. Her once vibrant smile was weak, her shining princess curls stiff and straw like, her intelligent grey eyes cloudy. 

And she had been so  _ confused _ . In the end, she barely remember who he and Zoey were, much less Magnus or any of their friends.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, baby?” Percy smiled as he caught sight of his daughter. She had his nose and green eyes but Annabeth’s bone structure and hair, brilliance that Percy was sure had never shone through his eyes, so achingly similar to Annabeth’s but yet not exactly the same, that little worried lip bit that Annabeth always did when she knew Percy was trying to hide his pain.

“Why are you crying?’

Percy wiped at his eyes, realizing his cheeks were damp. “I’m just remembering.”

Zoey nodded, a graver expression than Percy could have feared for his daughter  _ ever _ , much less this early in her life. “If thinking about her hurts so much, why do you do it?”

“Sometimes….” Percy’s voice cracked, and he crouched down, taking his daughter’s small hands in his own. “Sometimes it’s better to hurt than forget. I don’t want to forget Mama, but by remembering her it keeps her memory alive.”

The little girl processed this information with thoughtfulness that greatly exceeded her six year old expectations. “Oh. Is that why you cry at night? ‘Cause you’re remembering her?”

Percy fought the lump in his throat, pulling her to his chest and sinking into a cross-legged sit on empty floor of the bedroom. She nestled into him, sitting contently in his lap, in the comfort of his arms and presence. He had no idea that she knew about the late nights, spent collapsed next to the bed with a bottle of unopened whiskey cradled to his chest. He had promised Annabeth to give Zoey a full life and part of that promise was not to dissolve and leave her a true orphan.

“Yeah,” he finally answered, voice hoarse with emotion. “Yeah, that’s why.”

“Daddy?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Why are we moving, then? If we should remember her to keep her memory alive, why are we leaving?"

Percy lifted her, so that their foreheads were pressed together, eyes locked. He thumbed away tears that glittered like crystals on her cheeks. “Even though it’s good to remember her, we can’t live in the past. It’s time to move on. It’s been a year, baby, and she’d want us to move on and be happy.”

Zoey sniffled but nodded her understanding. “So is this it? Are we going now?”

Percy shook his head, a gentle smile worked its way onto his face. “We’ve got one more thing left to do before then.”

~~~

Percy thumbed through the pages of an old photo album, dated to the year he and Zoey had moved to the city, his and Annabeth’s wedding album already opened next to him. He found the pictures he was looking for, the photos that Rachel and Piper and Hazel had helped him recreate. He looked at the pictures side by side, the wedding ones with Annabeth in an elegant white wedding dress and him in a tux, the others him and Zoey dressed in their Sunday best.

Them, in the empty dining room, hands joined, staring into each other’s eyes in adoration. Zoey had to stand on his feet for this one, leaning back far enough that she could have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her so steady. She trusted him so deeply that she had done it without question.

Them, smiling at each other in front of the bay window Annabeth loved. Zoey had been on Percy’s hip, and he distinctly remembered them rubbing their noses together before the picture, drawing a peal of laughter for the younger girl.

Them, standing in a doorway with half of each of them obscured by the sli ding doors that led to the dining room. Zoey had kept moving the door accidentally, and the result was that her entire nose was exposed. 

Her, getting her eye makeup done by a grinning Piper while Hazel pinned up her hair. Piper had put a sparkly blue on Zoey’s lids as requested, Hazel had french braided the blonde waves into two pigtails. 

Them, leaning into opposite sides of a double wide doorway, smiling at each other. Zoey had been so much shorter that her head was bent almost all the way up.

Her, coming down the stairs towards him and the first time him seeing her in her dress, his reaction captured perfectly by Rachel the camera woman. Percy had cried, during this one, seeing the future where Zoey would be doing this with her fiance, wearing a white dress and taking ridiculous photographs that made everyone smile with their sheer cheesiness, looking aching like Annabeth.

Them, foreheads together, noses bumping, happiness shining through their faces. Zoey had kissed him before hand, smiling as she said, “Love you, Daddy.”

It had been years since Percy had been able to bear looking at the photos, but he felt he was obligated to now. It had been eighteen years since that last day in the house Annabeth had designed for them, eighteen years since he was truly  _ surrounded _ by the memories of her. It was the night after Zoey’s wedding to a daughter of Iris. A night after she walked down the aisle and he had to officially face that she wasn’t his little girl anymore.

He took the envelope that Zoey had sent him, a copy of the wedding photos they had taken the morning of the wedding. He laid them out next their respective pictures and smiles because it hurt in such a nice way that they had decided to duplicate the photos in their own house.

Not every room was the same but it was close enough that you could tell the intended effect. Piper and Hazel had even done Zoey’s hair and makeup.

“Dad?”

“Hey, Zoe,” Percy greeted with a smile, wiping away tears. “I thought you were leaving for your honeymoon a few hours ago.”

“Flight was cancelled,” she shrugged, biting her lip in that worried way as she looked at him. “Some mechanical problem. It’s rescheduled for tomorrow morning at ten. Sidney’s still yelling at the airport for that one. Our house is so much further away than it wouldn’t be worth it….so could we stay here for the night?”

Percy opened his arms for a hug, which she gladly accepted. “You’re always welcomed here, Zoe.”

He went to make them each a mug of hot chocolate, like he used to when she was younger or when she had a bad day in middle school or when the stress threatened to overcome her in high school. When he reentered the living room he saw her looking at the photos of Annabeth with an expression of longing.

“You look just like her, you know,” Percy said said softly.

Zoey jumped. “You scared me, Dad.”

Percy chuckled, recognizing her trying to elude the topic.. “I’m being serious, Zoe. You’re just as beautiful as she was. And her dress fits you perfectly.”

She blushed.

“Zoey,” Percy said seriously, tilting her chin up to force her to make eye contact. “She would be proud of you, I’m sure of it. You’re strong and beautiful and confident and as smart as she ever was.”

“I….thanks, Dad.” Zoey smiled, eyes watery. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”


End file.
